Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Ever since they soundchecked it in Chicago a month ago, U2 fans have been waiting for the moment when they'd finally break out "Two Hearts Beat as One," a War classic they hadn't played since Dublin's Point Debut in December 1989. On Monday night, it finally happened early into their sixth consecutive Madison Square Garden gig. "We're a band from the North Side of Dublin called the U2," Bono said as Adam Clayton played the opening bass notes of the song. "This is a song we haven't played in a quarter of a century."

The U2 diehards have been clamoring for the song for some time, something Bono seemed aware of. "Oh yeah," he said when they wrapped it up. "Ya happy?" Later in the show, they made a Chilean fan named Ignacio happy when they invited him onstage to play guitar on "Angel of Harlem" and then gave him the instrument to take home.

The show also featured a return of the Songs of Innocence track "The Troubles," which had only been played at three other shows on this tour. The printed setlist called for "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" as the closer, but the band opted for "One" instead. Like many previous shows, Bono attempted to have the audience sing most of the song, but the crowd ignored Bono's pleas to not clap and threw off the rhythm. "I'm not a fussy rock star," Bono said. "Just picky." After starting the song over twice, the MSG audience adhered to the singer's request and belted out the beginning of the song a cappella.

The band has looked back as much as forward on the tour, with previous shows featuring the resurrection of "October" and "Gloria," two 1980s tracks which also hadn't been played for some time. U2 return to Madison Square Garden Thursday and Friday for the final two shows of their MSG run.